UK Skilled Worker Visa: Eligibility, Sponsorship and the Application

A UK Skilled Worker visa is permission to do an eligible job for an employer the Home Office has already approved. It is not a general right to work, and the salary test is an immigration rule, not a typical UK wage. The figures below are from GOV.UK on 25 September 2026. They can change. Whether an employer is on the register of licensed sponsors, and whether a job offer matches what that employer can sponsor, is a separate check in how to check a licensed sponsor and a job offer.

What you need before you apply

You need a confirmed job offer. The employer gives you a certificate of sponsorship, which is an electronic record with a reference number, not a paper certificate. You must apply within three months of getting it, and you can apply up to three months before the start date on it. The job must be an eligible occupation. A higher-skilled code can qualify. A medium-skilled code can qualify only in the cases the job page lists: the immigration salary list, the temporary shortage list, or, for prison officer code 3314, an extension or switch. You can also extend if your first certificate was issued before 22 July 2025. Similar job titles can have different codes. Bricklayers can be eligible when construction labourers are not. For a care worker, code 6135, or a senior care worker, code 6136, working in England, the employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

The salary test

The usual test is whichever is higher: £41,700 a year, or the going rate for that occupation. GOV.UK’s own example is a salary of £42,000 that still fails if the going rate is £45,000. Healthcare and education jobs can use national pay scales instead. Extensions, updates, and some switches can use a lower rule. Where the usual test is not met, and the job is not in those healthcare or education scales, the page says you might still qualify at £33,400 or more, in the cases that page describes. A prison-officer extension or switch uses a different floor, £31,300 or the lower going rate, and only with a certificate by a stated date. None of these numbers is a survey of what the job pays in Britain.

English, the application, and the cost

You must be able to speak, read, write, and understand English, and you will usually need to prove it. The level is on the knowledge-of-English section of the same guide. This article does not restate a level that was not the page used for the salary check.

You apply online, from outside the UK or from inside if you are extending or switching. A decision usually takes about three weeks outside the UK and about eight weeks inside. On 25 September 2026 the costs page put the standard application fee between £819 and £1,865 depending on where you apply and how long the visa is, with a lower fee if the job is on the immigration salary list. The healthcare surcharge is usually £1,035 for each year of the stay. You, and any partner or child who applies, each pay. You will be told the amount in the application. The Health and Care Worker visa is a different route for eligible doctors, nurses, and some health and adult social care jobs. It is cheaper and does not use the annual surcharge.

You will usually also need at least £1,270 available, unless you are exempt. The evidence rules for that sum, including how long it must have been in the account, are in proof of funds for visa applications.

How long it lasts, and settlement

The visa can last up to five years. You can apply to extend it if you still qualify. If you change job or employer, you must apply to update it. You cannot do that change on the old permission. After five years you may be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain if you meet the other settlement requirements. That is a separate application. Five years on this visa is not the same thing as time spent as a student.

A partner and children may be able to apply as dependants if they meet the rules for dependants. Who counts as a partner or a child is a different question from whether your job meets the salary test.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, your job, and how much it costs